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PM Trudeau visits North Battleford for meet and greet rally

Dec 7, 2017 | 10:31 PM

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited North Battleford Thursday for a brief meet and greet, and to show his support for Larry Ingram – the local Liberal candidate in the upcoming Battlefords-Lloydminster byelection. 

About 900 people packed the Dekker Centre to attend the event.

Trudeau encouraged people to get out and vote, and also to show their support for Ingram.

“We’re making sure that as we make decisions for the country, we’re reflecting… on the needs and concerns of every corner of the country,” said Trudeau.

He also spent a few minutes discussing the Liberal government’s efforts to make improvements for Canadians.  

Trudeau said the government has tried to create better economic growth by “putting more money in the pockets of people who need it.”

“The very first thing we did was lower taxes for the middle class, and raise them for the wealthiest one per cent,” he said. 

The PM said the government also brought in the Canada Child Benefit, as he said, to help the people who need it.

“We’re lifting hundreds of thousands of kids in this country out of poverty, and reducing child poverty by 40 per cent in this country,” he said. “That’s obviously the right thing to do.” 

Trudeau added Canada is enjoying economic growth and “record low unemployment,” through the government’s efforts to put “more money into the pockets of Canadians who need it.”

He added the government is also moving forward in lowering small business taxes.

In his speech, Trudeau also acknowledged North Battleford Mayor Ryan Bater who also attending the event.  

He said he and the mayor had a good conversation earlier.

“Obviously there are challenges, there are opportunities, as there are right across the country,” Trudeau said. “It’s really important we all roll up our sleeves and work together.”   

Bater later said he and Trudeau met earlier to discuss some issues of concern in the local area. 

“It’s not often that we have a prime minister visit North Battleford,” he said. 

He said while Trudeau was here as a party leader, the mayor appreciated being able to discuss issues with him of importance to North Battleford.

“We talked at length about community safety, about the need to align with the federal government, and the need to focus on reconciliation efforts and partnerships between the four levels of government – Indigenous, municipal, provincial and federal,” said Bater. “It was a great conversation. I appreciated his time.”

Bater added Trudeau agreed with him on the issues.

“I think that in terms of addressing our community safety and crime challenges, I let him know that this part of the country is one that needs attention, in terms of development of relationships – that we are focusing on the root causes of crime here,” said the mayor, adding that all levels of government need to work together to overcome these challenges.

 

angela.brown@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @battlefordsnow